Cheryl Burke of Dancing with the Stars appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on Tuesday, February 15th. DeGeneres got her to open up about DWTS dancing partner Chad Ochocinco, dancing her way through the pain of abusive relationships, and dealing with the media’s attention about her weight. (She’s a twig, how could you ever say anything about her weight?!)

On rumors about Chad Ochocinco… (A relationship milked for DWTS, and ultimately had half of America invested in pretty heavily.)
Ellen: You were denying that there was a romantic thing going on (with partner Chad Ochocinco) but there was some kind of romantic thing going on.
Cheryl: I mean, we had a fling. We worked so much together. We had great chemistry. But it was the same pattern I had in the past with my boyfriends in the past. He was just really unavailable to me. I just knew that didn’t work and I’ve moved on and he’s obviously moved on.
Ellen: Because he was dating other people at the same time? Is that right?
Cheryl: Well, you just look at his Twitter and see who he’s following and that speaks for itself.

Well, seems like the truth about Cheryl and Chad has finally come out. I took the liberty of visiting Ochocinco’s Twitter account and he’s actually following almost 400 people. But apparently Ochocinco’s dating Evelyn Lozada.

On the abusive relationships she was involved in…
Ellen: You talk about abusive relationships that you have been in the past that you got yourself out of as well. Both physically and emotionally abusive.
Cheryl: Yeah, I went through a couple of abusive relationships during my whole high school career and I think it just stems from my childhood. But what really mattered most to me was dance and how dancing really influenced me in so many ways. I just followed my passion. I never let dancing down. It was my one true thing that I stayed loyal to that really helped me get through the abuse.

On being molested at a young age…
Cheryl: I was five years old when my family hired help to help us around the house. My step-sister and I got molested by this man and I think from that point on I had no self esteem. I had no self-confidence. I didn’t know what to do. So I fell for these men who were unavailable to me. The abuse was something I felt like I deserved and I continued go back to that.

On how dance helped her get past the horrible abuse…
Cheryl: Well, the one thing that I stood by was dancing. I always had hopes and dreams for dance. My goal was to always be the best dancer that I could possibly be. No matter what. No matter if my boyfriend told me to stop dancing I never did. I just packed my bags, moved to New York and started my career and then got asked to do “Dancing with the Stars” five years ago.

On the hurtful media scrutiny about her weight…
Cheryl: It was really hard for me. I’m like every human being. It hurt. At that time, I had to put a smile on my face. I was still in the middle of a season. I had to act like nothing hurt me. At the same time, I tried to starve myself. I tried to go and turn to diet pills but I knew that wasn’t for me….It was very hurtful.

Cheryl has a message for those in abusive relationships…
Cheryl: First of all, I want to say you’re not alone. There are many people who go through similar situations. The best thing to do, if you’re in the situation, you must talk about it whether it is to a family member or friends or a priest or a therapist. It doesn’t matter, You have to get the message out here. And if you have a person coming to you and saying she or he is getting abused, call the police. It is so dangerous. You’re risking someone’s life.
Ellen: And if one person listens to you and doesn’t do anything about it, talk to another person. If that person doesn’t do anything, talk to another person. Keep talking to someone until someone listens and helps you out. You deserve the help.
Cheryl: And you can always move on from it.

Photo Credit: Michael Rozman/Warner Bros.

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